Toy railroad



March 22, 1938. W R, SiCHNElDER 2,111,944

TOY RAILROAD Filed Dec. 7, 1936 ATTORN EYS patented Mar. 22, 1938 PATENT OFFICE TOY RAILROAD William R. Schneider, Buffalo, N.y Y. Application December 7, SeriaLjNo. 114,527

c claims. (corti-ssii i This invention relates to a to-y railroad and has. as its object the provision of a trackway having a new and novel configuration.

Among the objects of the present invention, are the provision of a trackway for a toy railroad. whose Vcourse is new and novel and' has been found to be practical and pleasing to observe; the provision of a trackway which is continuous and endless in its extent and is at the same time free from grade crossings, thereby eliminating the necessity for switches., frogs, and the like;

and the provision of a trackway which fulfills the foregoing objects and has suflicient variety in its tortuous pathway to avoid the usual mo-notony of devices of this class and at the same time provides a sim-ple and practicalconstruotion.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of my new toy railroad trackway; l

Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof;

Fig. 3 is a vertical cross sectional View along the line 3--3 of Fig. 1; and Y' Fig. 4 is a vertical cross sectional View along the line 4 4 of Fig. 1.

While various structural designs may be devised for supporting my new trackway I have i1- lustrated, for the purposes of exemplification'a wooden base comprising a. longitudinalyextend` ing member I9 having blocks II secured to the opposite ends thereof. n A series of arms I2 radiate horizontally from each block II and carry at their outer ends vertical supports of varying heights and which will later be described.

The base members Ill, II and I2 are all adapted to rest upon a floor or -similarsupporting surface. The trackway itself may be of any conventional type. I have illustrated a` form of trackway which consists of a baseer bedmember I3 which is preferably of wood or other insulating material and Vcarries thereon rails I4 which are of an electrical conducting material for the purpose of establishing an electrical circuit and supplying energy to a toy electric train of the usual type. In place of the construction shown thetracks may be supported upon a metallic Vbase structure with a third rail insulated from `the remaining structure and supplying the energizing current. Any desired and convenient type of toy trains, electrical or otherwise, may be used and the trackway adapted thereto.

My new trackway is endless and continuous in extent, that is, it traverses a complete closed circuit, but for the purposes of the present description and for describing the path thereof I shall begin at the central lowermost portion thereof.

Atthisiznoint ya portion I,5 of trackway I3, I4 extends obliquely across the bar I0. This oblique track vportion merges lat each of its ends into a curvilinear portion I6, which in theinstance illustrated is.' approldmately an .arc struck from thefcente'r of sealchblock ,I I `and Vextending through approximately 27.0, whenzboth of the curvilinear portionsmerge into oblique portions I'i which are ,substantially adjacent each other and extend across the `:tlrst Amentioned oblique portion atabout-right angles thereto.

During the 4course .of the trackway from the first mentioned obliqueportion to the two latter mentionedand co-'planar oblique portions the trackwafy inclines gradually vupwardly so .that the two second Vnamed oblique: portions are spaced above the rst .named 'oblique portion at a distancesufllcient .to permita toy electric train to poss'falong the -rst mentioned .oblique portion and-beneath the two latter mentioned oblique portions. The two oblique portions II again mergeinto :curvilinear portions I8, which in the instance illustratedapproximate arcs struck from the..-b'locks I I and :continue for about 270, and merge into a common oblique track portion I9 .which is, in `theplan view, Aapproxirr'iately coincident with :thefrst namedv oblique track portion'` 1.5. Y

The curvilinear portions I8 also ascend grad- -ually so'that lthe oblique track portion I9 is spaced `above .the two adjacent intermediate track portions a. distance sufficient to permit a toyelectric train traversing either of the intermediate adjacent track portions II to pass beneath the upper track portion I9. Vertical supports 220 .extendbetween the base .of the track plate :13 and -thefbase structures Iii and I2 at suitableintervals--for supporting the trackway and the height of theseveral vertical supports 20 is graduated as required.

Aj `-It -will be noted that the -curvatures of the lower track portions, that is, the track portions extending from the lowest level to the intermediate level, are of generally greater radius than the curvatures ofthe upper track portions, that is, those extending from the intermediate level tothe topmost level. This difference in radius is preferably about the width of the trackway and is provided so that the toy train, when traveling from. the lower -to `the intermediate level, Will not be interfered with by the upper track portions or by their supports.

I prefer that my trackways be banked at curves so that there will be no danger of the toy train leaving the tracks owing to centrifugal force. Such banking is illustrated at Fig. 3 which is a cross-sectional View taken at one of the curved portions. For greater structural stability I have shown, in my illustrated embodiment, reinforcing members 2| extending along the opposite sides of the railroad bed I3 in the vicinity of the central obliquely extending track portions I5, l1 and I9.

It will be seen that the oblique straightaway portions which are shown in the drawing and which have been described may be omitted entirely and the circular portions may be substantially complete so that they merge directly into each other, or the straightaway portions may all extend in the same direction, that is, atright angles to the member I0 as viewed yin Fig. .1. The curvilinear portions have been shown as arcuate but it will be understood that these portions of the track may be of any suitable shape or configuration only so that they interconnect with the straightaway portions or with each other in the manner and at the levels described.

In operation the toy train beginning at the lowermost portion I5 oiy the trackwayvexecutes a figure 8. Midway in the'execution of this figure 8 the train will be found at the intermediate level of track and upon `completion of the iigure 8 at the topmost level. The train continues from this point to execute a second gure 8, passing the intermediate level midway and again arriving at the lowermost level upon the completion of the second figure 8.:

It has been found in practice that the toy railway herein shown and described results in a. train route which is pleasing to the eye and quite intriguing in that the path of the train does not readily photograph itself upon the mind of the observer. The exact modusoperandi is not so clear from actual observation as pictorial delineation and verbal description may make it appear.

The path of movement of the train is graceful and to a large extent avoids 'the monotony incident to observation of the operation of a toy railroad train in a single level.. The smoothness and grace of operation is further enhanced by the complete absence vof switches or frogs and this latter feature results. further. in more quiet operation than is usually the case in devices of this class. 1

It will be understood that various modiilcations in the structure shown and described 4might `be made without departingfromthe spiritor scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim: v l

1. In a toy railroad, a trackway comprising two adjacent stretches of track, 'a track portion passing above and another track portion passing beneath said adjacent stretches of track, and curved track portions connectingl the ends of said adjacent track portions to` the. upper and lower track portions to provide a continuous rail road.

2. In a toy railroad, a trackway comprising two adjacent stretches of track, a track portion passing above and another trackportion passing beneath said adjacent stretches of track, curved track portions connecting the opposite ends of the upper track portion with one end of one of the adjacent track portions and the opposite end of the other of the adjacent track portions respectively, and curved track portions connecting the opposite ends of the lower track portion with the ends of the adjacent track portions lying opposite their juncture with the first mentioned curved track portions to provide a continuous and endless trackway.

3. In a toy railroad, a trackway comprising two adjacent stretches of track, a track portion passing above and another track portion passing beneath said adjacent stretches of track, curved track portions connecting the opposite ends of the upper track portion with one end of one of the adjacent track portions and the opposite end of the other of the adjacent track portions respectively, and curved track portions connecting the opposite ends of the lower track portion with the ends of the adjacent track portions lying opposite their juncture with the first mentioned curved track portions to provide a continuous and endless trackway, said second mentioned curved track portions lying substantially outside said rst mentioned curved track portions.

h4. In a toy railroad, a trackway comprising two adjacent stretches of track, a track portion passing above and another track portion passing beneath said adjacent stretches of track, arcuate track portions connecting the opposite ends of the upper track portion with one end of one of the adjacent track portions and the opposite end of the other of the adjacent track portions respectively, and arcuate track portions connecting the opposite ends yof the lower track portion with the ends of the adjacent track portions lying opposite their juncture with the rst mentioned curved track portions.

5. In a toy railroad, a trackway comprising two adjacent stretches of track, a track portion passing above and another track portion passing beneath said adjacent stretches of track, arcuate track portions connecting the opposite ends of the upper track portion with one end of one of the adjacent track portions to the opposite end of the other of the adjacent track portions respectively, and arcuate track portions connecting the opposite ends of the lower track portion with the ends of the adjacent track portions lying opposite their juncture with the rst mentioned curved track portions, lsaid seco-nd mentioned arcuate track portion being of substantially greater radius than said rst mentioned arcuate track portions whereby they lie substantially outside said rst mentioned arcuate portions for a major portion of their extent.

6. In a toy railroad, a trackway comprising four curvilinear track portions, one of said portions having one end in a given plane, said portion extending curvilinearly until the other end thereof lies adjacent said rst end but in a plane thereabove, a second portion having one end lying adjacent said second end of said first portion and in substantially the same plane therewithand having one of its ends connected with the rst mentioned end of the rst portion, the upper adjacent ends of both of said portions extending in two oppositely curved portions having their ends meeting in a plane above the two previously mentioned planes.

WTLLIAM R. SCHNEIDER. 

